Turkish football players targeted by an official probe seem to be facing unequal treatment compared to fellow players from elsewhere in Europe. Follow
Turkish football players targeted by an official probe seem to be facing unequal treatment compared to fellow players from elsewhere in Europe.
Following a request from France, UEFA — European football’s governing body — announced the probe after Monday’s EURO 2020 qualifiers in Istanbul and France, where Turkish players gave military-style salutes in celebration of goals.
But UEFA’s Tuesday decision stands in stark contrast to such football stars as Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo, Antoine Griezmann, and Mario Mandzukic, who all did salutes during matches in recent years, but none of whom faced any disciplinary probes.
In July 2018, French star Griezmann made a military salute in front of French President Emmanuel Macron in Moscow, during a ceremony at the 2018 FIFA World Cup final when France beat Croatia 4-2 to be world champions. He faced no UEFA probe.
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Turkish soldiers in Tel Abyad send message to National Team saluting them
Turkish soldiers who have been carrying out Operation Peace Spring in Syria’s Tel Abyad sent greetings to the Turkish National Football Team who performed a military salute at the end of the their match. Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring on Oct. 9 to eliminate terrorists from northern Syria in order to secure Turkey’s borders, aid the safe return of Syrian refugees, and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.
Decrying the discrepancy on Tuesday, Turkey’s Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoglu said: “Whoever said nothing about Griezmann’s military salute is trying to distort our footballers’ grateful salute.”
He added: “l call on UEFA to act sensibly on this investigation request.”
Moreover, in October 2013, when he was playing for Real Madrid, Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo also celebrated a goal by saluting along with his teammate Marcelo.
In March 2009, when playing for Barcelona, French player Thierry Henry and Cameroonian star Samuel Eto’o also did a salute during a UEFA Champions League match against Bayern Munich.
In addition, in November 2012, Croatian international Mario Mandzukic also did a salute when he was playing for Bayern Munich.
Turkish soldiers thank national players supporting op.
Turkish soldiers in northern Syria hailed the Turkish nation and national players who performed military salutes at sport events, in honor of Turkey’s anti-terror operation in Syria launched last week.”We received the salutes of our national players and teams who became champions. Don’t worry, we are on duty for our country and nation,” Turkish soldiers said in a video posted by the Turkish National Defense Ministry on Twitter Wednesday with the hashtag “Salute Turkish soldiers” (#MehmetciğeSelamGönder).Turkish National Football Team players celebrated a goal by military salute during the UEFA EURO 2020 Qualifiers against Albania in Istanbul, as well as during their match against France in Saint-Denis.During the matches, Turkish players celebrated their goals by a soldier’s salute, dedicating their goal to Turkish soldiers currently fighting in northern Syria in the ongoing Operation Peace Spring.UEFA, European football’s governing body, launched an investigation on Tuesday against Turkey for the act.The organization initiated “disciplinary investigations” regarding the matches, appointing an inspector with regard to “potential provocative political behaviour,” it said in a statement.Turkey on Oct. 9 launched Operation Peace Spring to secure its borders by eliminating terrorist groups there, to ensure the safe return of Syrian refugees and Syria’s territorial integrity.Ankara wants to clear northern Syria east of the Euphrates of the terrorist PKK and its Syrian offshoot, the PYD/YPG.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the European Union — has been responsible for deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
Turkey criticizes France over request for UEFA sanction
Turkey on Tuesday criticized France over a request for UEFA sanctions on the Turkish National Football Team for performing a military salute.Claiming the salutes at the end of a Monday match were “contrary to the spirit of sports,” French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu tweeted her request that UEFA take action against Turkey.Pointing out that French star Antoine Griezmann gave a similar salute this June, Turkey’s Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoglu said: “Whoever said nothing about Griezmann’s military salute is trying to distort our footballers’ grateful salute.””l call on UEFA to act sensibly on this investigation request,” Kasapoglu told a press conference.After drawing France 1-1 in an away match on Monday to remain at top of Group H in the UEFA EURO 2020 qualifiers, Turkish players celebrated by saluting in tribute to the Turkish soldiers fighting terrorists in Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring.The celebration was not televised by French TV.England footballers slam Bulgaria over racist actsEURO 2020 quals: France upset over Turkey draw at homeUEFA holds inquiry on Turkish players’ soldier salute
EURO 2020 quals: France upset over Turkey draw at home
French national football team has been frustrated after the 1-1 draw against Turkey in Monday’s crucial UEFA EURO 2020 qualifiers game at home.”Turkey were good defensively. We knew they were dangerous from set-pieces, especially at the back post and that’s how they equalized. There’s disappointment because we could have qualified tonight,” Bayern Munich’s French defender Lucas Hernandez said in a post-match interview.Home team France has broken the deadlock at Stade de France in the 76th minute of the match as Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud scored by a header, giving the 1-0 lead for “Les Bleus” (The Blues).But Turkey gave a quick response with the header made by Kaan Ayhan in the 82nd minute to secure the 1-1 draw in Saint-Denis.France missed a chance for the early UEFA EURO 2020 qualification with this draw.”We did what we needed in terms of the chances we created. We needed to be more clinical in front of goal. We’re still on course to fulfill our objectives and we need to finish off the work in November,” France manager Didier Deschamps said.Moussa Sissoko, French midfielder, stated that it is frustrating to have conceded the equalizer in set-piece.”We’ll learn from our errors and come back next month in order to stamp our ticket for Euro 2020,” he added.Meanwhile the French star of Barcelona, Antoine Griezmann said that they played their best match against Turkey despite the draw.”It’s a huge disappointment, because we had a big match. It has been a longtime that we didn’t play like that. I think it’s our best match in the qualifiers,” Griezmann said and adding that the result is frustrating for France.Turkish defender Merih Demiral was the key player for Turkey to avoid the loss against France.French sports daily L’Equipe named Juventus defender Demiral ”player of the match” for his excellent performance.Turkey’s national team manager Senol Gunes praised his players’ performance during the post-match interview.”A point is good for us and I’d like to congratulate my players. It’s very good to be going home to Turkey top of the group. We played against very strong opponents and they were better than us on the night. Taking four points from two games against France is a real achievement,” Gunes said.Turkey won six games out of eight group matches to score 19 points.Sitting on the second spot, France also earned 19 points in eight matches.Iceland are on the third spot as they had 15 points.Turkey and France still have big chance each to qualify for the EURO 2020 finals directly before the last two matches in the Group H.